Parker

Have we seen tough guy films before or what!? And no matter who stars in them, they are extremely formulaic. Some of them aren't bad depending on the writer(s), but most are stamped out in so much of a 'cookie-cutter' pattern that one practically expects mediocre, but certainly hopes for the best. Well, I hate to be the barer of bad news, but "Parker" unfortunately falls into that same pattern.

A thief, Parker (Jason Statham) with a unique core of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew including Melander, Carlson, Ross, Jake, and Hardwicke (Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr, Bobby Cannavale, and Michah Hauptman) respectively, and left for dead. He survives, and assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman, Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez) on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist: millions of dollars of famed jewels at a West Palm Beach auction.

Others to round out the cast are Patti LuPone as Ascension, Leslie's Mom, Carlos Carrasco as Norte, Emma Booth as Claire, Parker's girlfriend, Nick Nolte as Hurley, Claire's Dad, Daniel Bernhardt as Kroll, Billy Slaughter as Ben, a security guard, and John Eyes as Jack, a cop.

This was really tightly directed by veteran Taylor Hackford ("The Idolmaker" '80, "An Officer and a Gentleman" '82, "Against All Odds" '84, "White Knights" '85, "Everybody's All-American" '88, "Blood In, Blood Out" '93, "Dolores Claiborne" '95, "The Devil's Advocate" '97, "Proof of Life" 2000, "Ray" '04, "Love Ranch" '10). The way Hackford was able to create a certain chemistry between the guys of the crew was amazing. This was written by John J. McLaughlin which was based on the novel, "Flashfire" by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake). The premise here was a bit interesting with the whole idea of one crook being double-crossed by the others, but then it became a bit formulaic and definitely a little long-in-the-tooth. This running time could have easily been reduced 15 minutes and still gotten its point across.

If you like tough guy films with lots of gunfire, explosions, adrenaline, and a fairly increased body count, this will fit the bill. But if you are expecting a high caliber script with Oscar winning performances, I frankly see a DVD rental in your near future.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                       Rated: R                         118mins.